The exquisite corpse is a multiplayer game invented by the surrealists. Its aim is to compose a collective drawing or a story.

Traditionally the game is played on a long sheet of paper and each player draws a part.

The next player should not see the drawing of the previous one. They only have a small hint from which to continue.

This goes on and on: the next player draws from the hint of the previous one without seeing the whole image.

The result is a weird linear narrative. The transition between authors is both smooth and abrupt.

The Exquisite Branch is an online take on the game.

It questions concepts such as authorship and collaboration in the light of the digital age.

The original version is constrained to a single piece of paper and is destined to be linear.

Let’s imagine our drawings forking and branching. Going in different directions.

The way in which Exquisite Branch works recalls the flow of a version control system just like Git.

There are 2 ways to get to the Exquisite Branch:

You either navigate to https://hub.xpub.nl /soupboat /xquisite

Or you receive a link from someone pointing to a specific branch.

Then it's time to scribble something or paint a masterpiece.

When you are done, you can submit the drawing.

You will receive a new link to share with others.

They will continue from your drawing, so leave some hints!

If you pass the link to just one person, the xquisite drawing will continue linearly.

But if you pass it to several people, it will branch.

It will have multiple versions with a common starting point.

On the website you can either start a new drawing, continue from the last contribution or view all the branches.